


Shadows of the Qun

by scurvaliciousbay



Series: Inquisitor!Kass and Companion!Mel [17]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 14:09:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16874316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scurvaliciousbay/pseuds/scurvaliciousbay
Summary: After Iron Bull's personal quest, the Qunari retaliate.





	Shadows of the Qun

**Author's Note:**

> Melarue belongs to circadian_rythm.

Having a newly turned Tal-Vashoth in her inner circle is…interesting, to say the least. Particularly when that member had previously been staunchly pro-Qun…well, as pro-Qun as he could be when had been living away from it for years. Still, having another like her is reassuring and terrifying all at once. 

The rumors about Tal-Vashoth savagery and insanity are unfortunately not without cause. Many turn to banditry, unskilled and unaware of different paths they could take. They don’t know how to read Common. They don’t know how to cook, or clean, or even really take care of themselves. So they turn to the one thing they can do – kill and take. It’s unfortunate and she had tried to help as many as she could, setting up a small kith, taking in all the Tal-Vashoth wandering over to her little corner of the world. She taught them how to read, how to speak, how to cook. Ash kept them in line because while the former Stens didn’t have experience with children, they knew better than to mess with them, especially with a Tamassran around.

But Bull isn’t like those Tal-Vashoth, wandering and lost and confused about their new place in this world the Qun did not prepare them for at all. He knows this world, he has a place with his Chargers and with the Inquisition. He can read, write, function perfectly well. He’s going to be just fine.

Still, it’s best to keep a bit of a closer eye on him to see how he’s adjusting to his new status.

Kass walks into Herald’s Rest to another rousing rendition of Empress of Fire. Someone calls for Maryden’s lute to be confiscated while another patron calls for them to shut it. Ah yes, life as normal.

Krem and the rest of the Chargers are in the back, talking about holding a nug plush launching competition. But there’s no Bull in sight.

“Krem, have you seen Bull?” Kass asks and the young man turns around, nodding.

“Yeah, he asked to see you – up on the battlements just outside.”

“Thanks, oh and I didn’t hear anything about the competition, you’re good.” She winks at them and turns, heading up to the battlements, wondering if he’s just wanting to look out at the mountains. She remembers wanting to look out at the ocean a lot after leaving the Qun, needing to know something bigger than herself still existed that she didn’t have to spurn.

When she gets to the battlements, however, it is a different story.

“You wanted to see me?” She asks and he turns to her as a soldier walks up behind him –

She hears the clink of metal and suddenly Bull is turning and landing a punch into the soldier’s face. What in the world –

A blade flies into Bull’s shoulder as another soldier suddenly appears and she realizes that these are in fact, not her soldiers. She curses in Qunlat, wishing she had her sword on her – no matter, she has her body.

The blade lands in Bull’s shoulder and he is quick to yank it out while Kass charges the first soldier.

“ _Tal-Vashoth bitch! Betrayer!”_  He spits she clocks him.

Bull throws the blade back at the second soldier and it lands firmly in his chest cavity – a death blow.

The first soldier rolls away from Kass and Bull steps in front of her.

“I’ve got it!” He growls and in this case, she trusts him (the last time he said this they were fighting that dragon in Crestwood and honestly he  _did not_  have it).

“Ebost issala, Tal-Vashoth!” The soldier cries and Kass purses her lips. Really? Soul is dust? That is the best they can do? The can send. She glowers at the soldiers while Bull throws him down the side of the mountain, the screams echoing up before silencing in a sharp cut off. The death bothers her less than it should, she thinks, and she wonders if she’s grown too desensitized to death.

But then Bull turns around and he’s bleeding and all thoughts of her being desensitized fades away.

“Bull! You’re bleeding!  _Did they use Sar-Qamek? Have you been dosing regularly?! I can get my things, I know how to –-“_ She says quickly, reverting into Qunlat as she examines the wound.

“I’ve been dosing, yeah, Boss. I’m good. Gah, sorry for alarming you, thought I might need backup. Guess I’m not even worth sending professionals for.” She inspects the wound as he speaks, looking for any visible signs of necrosis –

Wait.

“You knew they were coming?” She asks in a low voice.

“Little change in the guard rotation tipped me off.”

A change in the guard rotation.

A change…in the guard…

Oh no.

Oh no, no, no, no, no.

“Bull, did you tell them about Ash? Do they know she exists?” She asks, not caring if she’s interrupting or not.

“They know she exists but not that –

NO.

She doesn’t let him finish before she takes off into the main hold. No, no, no. It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t fucking matter if they know she’s a mage. She’s under ten, that means she’s…she’s….

She barrels into the keep.

“Has anyone seen my daughter!” She shouts and one of the dwarves working construction nods and points to Josephine’s office.

“I think she’s playing in there. One of her watchers thought it would be fun to play in the Under Hall for a while –

She takes off into the corridor, running down the stairs as quickly and carefully as possible. There are tunnels beneath this keep, they run deep, she knows. The workers have been working on figuring the depth of where they run but sometimes all it takes is one –

She reaches the bottom of the stares and turns, running into the hall just in time to see a woman dressed as soldier yank Ashokara up.

“Stop right there!” The woman shouts, and Kass doesn’t listen.

“Get your hands off my daughter, _right now_.” She growls, prowling closer only to halt as soon as the glint of steel curves up to under Ash’s jaw.

“Let me go!” Ash screams, the air wavering with heat around her. The woman’s eyes widen and Kass’s heart falls.

“ _Saarebas_ ,” she gasps and holds the knife closer to Ash. “Stop that, right now!”

“Mamaaa!” Ash sobs and the air continues to waver.

“Stress causes her magic to flare out, she isn’t dangerous and she is learning to control it.”

“She would be safe under the Qun – but you know this and yet you deny her that!” The woman hisses, pulling Ash to her more tightly.

“Let me go! I don’t want to go to the Qun!” She protests.

“ _Shut up, little Saarebas._ ”

Kass growls and a rage unlike she has ever felt boils within her.

“I deny her captivity. I deny her having her mouth sown shut, her tongue cut out. I deny the Qun the ability to mutilate my daughter for a gift bestowed upon her by birth!”

“A gift means nothing if it cannot satisfy the Qun.  _Fool Tamassran who thinks she knows better than Koslun_ ,” the women says, spitting into the ground. Kass takes a step forward and the knife suddenly pushes into Ash’s skin.

“NO!”

“AH! MAMA!” The temperature spikes and tears begin to flow down Ash’s face.

“Let. Her. Go. I will not ask again.”

“No. I have her, and I am going to take her to the Qun, where she belongs, where she will be safe, where she will have  _purpose!_ ”

Fear and rage seep in Kassaran as she watches the thin trail of blood bead down her daughter’s neck. This is a delicate game, one she cannot afford to lose, and one where she stands to lose  _everything_.

“No. There is no way you are leaving this mountain range or this lower continent for that matter, alive with my daughter. Alone, you could. But with her? I will scour the land for you, there is no cost too great for me to pursue her. You will die, and it will not be pleasant, it will not be slow. You can escape, alone, and report to the Qun that the Inquisitor is not to be trifled with. She is a mad Tal-Vashoth who will commit heinous acts to protect those close to her. So. Let. My. Daughter. Go.”

She stares into the woman’s dark eyes, willing her to see reason, to the let Ashokara go. And for a moment, Kass believes that she has her, there is a waver in her gaze.

“Please let me go?” Ash whispers and the waver disappears. Dammit, no! Her grip on the dagger tightens and she takes a step back, the knife digging in again. Ash whimpers at the pain, lancing pain into Kass. Dammit. Dammit!

A shadow slinks on the far wall, far more comforting than it should be, she thinks, before she concentrates back on the bitch in front of her.

“Ashokara? Remember what I said about how you use your magic with people? Yes or no, little one,” she tries to keep her voice even for her daughter, all the while screaming inside.

“Y-yes.”

“That is not always true,” she says and the woman’s eyes widen. Ash gasps and inhales, flinching as the knife draws more blood. Too close, no –

Bright blue fire erupts from Ash’s nose, engulfing the woman’s arm. She screams, dropping the knife in her panic while Ash throws her off of, making a break for Kassaran.

Kass darts for her daughter when the shadow suddenly takes the form of a terrifying Melarue, grabbing the woman slowly being engulfed by blue fire. She does not see what they do, but there is a scream and then nothing. Instead, Kass busies herself with tearing off a piece of her clothing, trying to wipe the blood on her daughter away.

How deep is the wound? Does she need a healer? Of course she needs a healer! She clutches Ashokara to her chest, the girl sobbing as the temperature around them spikes in chaotic intervals.

“I’ve got you, you’re safe, I’ve got you,” she says over and over again, to both her daughter and herself.

She has the overwhelming urge to wrap herself around her, to use her body as a shield to whatever is around them. Nothing can touch her, nothing.

Ash is alive.

She is in her arms.

Moving, breathing – crying, but alive and safe. She will heal, she will.

“I have a poultice for the cut,” Melarue says and Kass’s eyes flick up to theirs, a vial in their extended hand. In her wariness, Kass hesitates, reluctant to let Ash go in the slightest bit.

“Is it alright for Melarue to put the poultice on the cut, darling?” Kass asks and Ash peaks over at them. They offer a small smile, bending down, keeping a respectable distance.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, da’len,” they say softly. Ash sniffles and nods her head before leaning more fully into Kass again.

“Alright,” Kass replies. Melarue nods but they don’t approach all at once, their motions are slow, trackable. They dip an ungloved finger into the poultice and gently reach forward, ever-so-carefully dabbing it to the cut. Ash hisses and squirms, clutching Kass all the harder.

“Do you want them to stop?”

Ash nods and they stop immediately. Kass will take her to a healer, then, they may be able to numb the area with magic first.

Kass adjusts her grip on her daughter before standing up, hoisting Ash up into her arms. Melarue hovers around the two of them, watching for anything to jump out of the shadows.

They turn to walk up the stairs and there is Bull, still standing by the stairs, eye wide in horror.

“You have much to learn about being Tal-Vashoth,  _Qunari_ ,” she hisses before leaving him to the room now beginning to stink with the smell of burned flesh and death and fear.

She had been too quick to judge, then. Bull has everything to learn how to act in this world outside the Qun.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
